Dear Editor,
An advertisement appeared in the Guyana Times on September 24, 2008, from the Guyana National Diwali Committee asking for young, attractive and unmarried women to participate in a Miss Diwali pageant. This is an insult to the Hindu women and men who have worked to ensure that there is a reversal in the cycle of exploitation of women.

It seems that the veneration of the divine feminine is seen as an opportunity by the Guyana National Diwali Committee to promote the beauty pageant form of entertainment in Guyana which perversely comes at a time when there are increases in the reports of rape and other attacks on women and girls.

Diwali is a celebration of light, representing light in all of us. Coming soon after Navratri, it is a time for Lakshmi puja, a time when we recognise that Lakshmi exists in all women regardless of their age, perceptions of physical beauty or marital status.

The Guyana National Diwali Committee could do greater service to Guyana by joining with others to promote the spiritual values of Diwali.
Yours faithfully,
Keeran Persaud
Vidyaratha Kissoon